I don't agree with Rossi being beaten by the bike in 07 rather than by the rider. If only 1 rider can ride the bike, it is more than likely a .... bike. The Ducati had advantages in top speed but by all reports suffered everywhere else. There is a reason why Rossi really didn't want Stoner on a factory Yamaha in 06 and it wasn't just that he didn't want Yamaha to be looking for his replacement. If Rossi was as confident in beating his replacement, he would have welcomed the challenge to emphatically show Yamaha (and n the world) that there was no one ready to replace him yet and they had better keep looking.
Gigi potentially destabilising the factory team to keep Marquez probably highlights how big the difference is between the bikes. Martin who is putting in a serious challenge this season was essentially given the flick by Ducati in favour of Marquez because Gigi believed that Marquez would be more of a threat to them on the Aprilia or the KTM. What that means in the aero era, I don't know but riders are still making a difference when on the same or similar bikes. Ducati would have had an inkling of the Pramac situation before signing Marquez and had a known that VR46 was a likely replacement. They still signed Marquez over more preferable (to VR46) options.
I know that commercial reasons probably played a part in the choice of Marquez or perhaps made it more palatable to those in the anti-Marquez camp at Ducati but sponsors etc can be or would be told that Marquez was unlikely to fight for the championship, even if given a current bike, unless something catastrophic happened within their team such as injuries etc. Marquez winning #9 or #10 on your bike only becomes great marketing if he wins. If he doesn't win then you have paid a shitload of money for something that has caused ramifications within the team. While I don't think that Pecco and Marc are best of friends, both are cordial enough to be professional with each other and not go into a Rossi/Lorenzo style feud over the next two years.
We don't even know if Pecco believes the 2015 conspiracy and has a 'reason' to hate Marquez.
Rossi himself is so worried about Marquez winning #9 & 10 that we see interviews like this one.
“Valentino has very clear ideas and told me that he will help Pecco"
www.crash.net
Rossi has a better idea than most of the difference between the bikes. If it was the riders and not the bikes, Rossi would be saying that Pecco doesn't need help, Marquez is over the hill, Pecco will show he is Rossi's successor not Marquez, Pecco is better than Marquez ever was etc.
There is a reason why Pecco kicked every other Ducati riders ... all over the track. Maybe he was lucky that Ducati decided to get rid of Iannone and Petrucci in 2020 and promote both of the Pramac riders to the team. But he can only beat who is in front of him and machinery advantage or not, he has been able to see off every challenger to his #1 status in the factory team. So I don't know that Marquez will be able to beat him over the season but what I do know is that this will likely be Pecco's biggest test and dominance over Marquez, even a possibly post prime version, will assert his place among the greats. Ducati has been so dominant during his tenure but the only real rivals he has had are Fabio on a Yamaha that hasn't been at the level of the Duc and as far as teammates go or riders on the same bike, the best riders he has had to see of are Jack Miller, Jorge Martin who is unrpoven outside of Ducati and an injured Enea Bastiannini
